


Make it rain

by RhinoHill



Category: Stargate SG-1
Genre: F/M, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-17
Updated: 2019-01-24
Packaged: 2019-10-11 21:03:57
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 10,981
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17454290
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RhinoHill/pseuds/RhinoHill
Summary: In the months following the Za'tarc test, Sam has replayed her conversation with her C.O. daily.She has been true to her word. Nothing that passed between them has ever left the room.No-one has to know that she visits the room every chance she gets.And as long as she remembers to shut the door carefully behind her, no-one ever will.





	1. Like family

**Author's Note:**

> An extra episode of Stargate SG-1 set a few months after S4E5 "Divide and Conquer".
> 
> My first attempt at writing fanfic is dedicated to all the wonderful writers on AO3 whose Sam/Jack fics made me fall in love with them all over again. 
> 
> You are unicorns.

The trickle of sweat that inched its way lazily out of the fine hair at the base of Jack's neck traced a path of glistening skin in the red dust that had settled everywhere. 

Sam eased her back against the wall of the hut where she and her C.O. waited for Daniel to return from his negotiations with the village elders. With Teal'c guarding the door and Jack turned away from her, no-one could see her watching him. Her lips softened as she reached into her mind and pushed the door to their room open for the hundredth time.

Their room. The room where she had told him their feelings for each other would stay on the day they had been forced to admit them to prove they were not Za’tarcs. And she would keep her word. 

But she could visit their room. And inside it, she could snake her tongue along the shimmering trail on the back of his neck, closing her eyes as she tasted the salt of him. She could touch the tip of her nose to the tiny crescent fold behind his ear, blow soft breath below the collar of his shirt and see the goosebumps rise as she cooled the heat of this desert they had gated to for him.

Sam shut her eyes, and gently closed the door in her head on yet another imagined moment. Her right hand pressed flat against her thigh, physically leaning against it as she mentally leaned on the outside of the closed door. Making sure it was shut tight. None of what she felt would leave their room. She had promised him that.

Agitated footsteps sounded Daniel’s return and they both snapped instantly back into action. The triple creases between the archaeologist’s eyes did not bode well.

“Well?” Jack’s voice was sharp, “Do we have anything a desert full of hulking young men could want in return for Naquidah, or do we finally get to go home?”

“Um.” Daniel’s mouth pulled sideways. “They think we have. But I’m not sure it’s something we, uh…”

“Oh, for crying out loud, Daniel, spit it out!” 

“Sam.” For a second, Daniel looked her full in the face, pleading. Then his eyes dropped to the floor. “They want Sam to make it rain.”

The tension flooded out of Jack’s shoulders as he raised his arms, palms up. “Well, why didn’t ya say so? That’s something we can work with! Carter, if the government could make it rain over area 51, you can do that in 30 minutes, right? We’ll just head on back and get –“

“No, Jack.” The tone of Daniel’s words, barely louder than a whisper, stopped him dead.

The colonel pivoted and pinned him with his eyes. “What do you mean, no?”

The archaeologist physically flinched at the menace in the words.

“Daniel?” Jack growled.

Daniel sighed and pushed his glasses more firmly up the bridge of his nose, then rubbed his fingers wearily up and down his forehead, easing the headache he had felt growing at pace with the disbelief at what the inhabitants of PX-7903 were asking for.

“You’ve noticed that all the children on this planet are male.” He started pacing as he spoke, fascination with the history of the culture fighting with his dread of what he had to say. His team mates nodded mutely.

“About eighteen years ago, there was seismic event of some sort,” Daniel waved his arms as if to grab snatches of the recalled conversation from the air in front of him. “It seems to have started the drought and, and,” he waved, “the inability of women to bear female children.”

“Solar flare?” Sam wondered out loud. 

Daniel’s head snapped up to look at her uneasily.

“A strong blast of solar radiation could alter weather patterns, there have been plenty of examples of that on earth,” she explained. “And a blast of radiation severe enough to seriously disrupt weather patterns could conceivably, mm, alter human physiology too.” Her eyes lit up with an idea. “If we took blood from them, Janet could look for a point mutation and see if we can help them reverse it!”

She turned the suggestion to her C.O. when Daniel’s voice broke in again. 

A flash of pain crossed Jack’s face at his quiet statement. “There is a prophesy.”

“Of course there is.” Jack’s hands slapped against his thighs in frustration. “Well? What does it say?”

Daniel hesitated.

“Daniel!” 

The word was a command he didn’t have the courage to ignore. He laced his fingers in front of him and studied them carefully, speaking rapidly, with as little emotion as possible.

“A beautiful woman would come from the skies. She would pledge her love to the man of her destiny. Out of their love the first girl child would be born and the drought be broken.”

Silence settled on the room like the skein of thick, red dust in the air. For a long moment, no-one spoke.

“Right. Get Teal’c. We’re leaving right now. Without our equipment, if that’s what it takes.”

“Sir.” Before she could stop herself, Sam’s hand rested gently on Jack’s wrist, tempering his fury. “We may be able to help them.”

“What the fuck, Carter? NO!”

THe violence of his retort made her realise what he thought she was suggesting. “I don’t mean the prophecy, sir,” she looked away to hide her reddening cheeks, but pushed on. “This entire community will die out if the women can only conceive boys. If we convince them to work with us, to let Janet see if she can help them…” Sam sucked the inside of her cheek between her teeth, hoping no-one noticed the raw nerve the women’s fertility problems had struck in her. Slowly, she raised her head. Jack’s eyes were boring holes into her soul.

“They’re pretty set on the prophecy.”

Sam could hear how much Daniel hated what he was saying. Silently, her heart went out to him. “You don’t think they’ll let us help them medically if we don’t pretend to honour their prophecy.” She aimed the question behind her. She couldn’t bring herself to look away from Jack.

“Yeah.”

Sam swallowed. “Okay. Tell us more about the prophecy, then. What does the love pledge involve? How does the woman from the skies choose the man of her destiny?”

“Carter,”

The hiss physically pushed her back a step. She turned, searching for help from Daniel. 

“It’s not very specific, really. Apart from, well, your involvement.” He swallowed.

“Carter!”

Only when she squeezed his wrist in reassurance, did Sam realise she had never released it. She closed her eyes for a second and gave Daniel the smallest twitch of her lips before she continued.

“So I can do this with a man from the skies? And after I pledge my love, they’ll let us help them?” She hoped Daniel was too involved in deciphering the local custom to notice her preoccupation with helping the women of PX-7903.

No such luck. With a knowing narrowing of his eyes, Daniel nodded slowly. “The ceremony involves the pledge in front of the community, and one night in the wedding bower. Then it’s over.”

“The wedding bower?!” Jack twisted out of her grasp and strode to the door. “This is over. Now.”

“Sir, please. Just hear me out.”

Sam’s heart hammered in her chest. She knew she was treading very close to the line. He hadn’t snapped her back into rank once since he admitted how he felt to prove he wasn’t a Za’tarc. She didn’t know if she could take it.

Jack slowed, hand on the door handle. His shoulders jumped with tension. But he waited for her to speak.

“If we leave now, this civilisation will die out. Guaranteed. If we convince them to trust us by playing along with their prophecy to some extent, we at least have a chance of saving them. Prophecies are hazy on detail, we know that from the others we’ve run across. They’re asking me to pledge my love to someone, and I love all of you like family. This team is my family. I would follow you anywhere.” She paused for a beat. “I can turn that truth into a realistic sounding pledge.”

She caught Daniel’s frank stare, filled with friendship and respect. Her gentle smile to him disguised the deeper truth. The fact that she twisted her love for Jack into a small, tight knot every morning and tucked it into the room inside her head, whispering over and over “I love him like family, I love him like family.”

Against the door, Jack’s shoulders slumped. “I wish you didn’t care so bloody much, Major.”

“Uh, shall I go tell the elders that’s a yes then, as long as Sam can choose one of us as her destiny man?” The joke was thin, but Sam grinned gratefully at her friend.

“I'll come with you to talk to them about the blood tests afterwards.” She knew Daniel could handle it, but suddenly she couldn’be alone in this stifling room with her colonel.

As she followed Daniel through the doorway, the shape of his body drew her back. He looked at her like a riddle he was trying desperately to solve.

“Thank you, sir,” Sam said quietly.


	2. The Minnesota Way

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Even standing on the threshold of their wedding bower, Jack continues to play the role of simple country guy, thrilled to have been chosen by the beautiful woman from the skies. The woman whose hand he's held with such care all afternoon and evening.
> 
> \---oOo---

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The second chapter in the series "Make it Rain", set a few months after "Divide and Conquer", S4E5.
> 
> My first attempt at writing fanfic is dedicated to all the incredible authors on AO3 whose works made me fall in love with Sam and Jack all over again.
> 
> You are unicorns.
> 
> \---oOo---

Jack’s hand was warm and steady around hers. As it had been through the entire whirlwind afternoon and evening. At the door to the hut at the edge of the village, the one decorated with dry flowers, leaves and ribbons the same hue as the ones the women had weaved into Sam’s short hair while they fussed and tittered over the dress for the pledge ceremony, he stopped and turned to face the following crowd, a mischievous grin on his face.

“So, does this prophecy say anything about how we’re supposed to enter this wedding bower place, or can I do it the earth way?” 

Daniel shook his head with a resigned smile. 

Without warning, Jack leaned down until his head was just inches from the tightly laced bodice under Sam’s breasts and released her hand. Then his right hand cupped the back of her thighs and he tipped her backwards off her feet, his left arm catching her back just above horizontal.

“SIR!” Sam yelped before she could stop herself and blushed crimson when her shocked eyes looked into his, only inches away and sparkling with amusement as he cradled her to chis chest. 

His body rumbled with laughter against her. “Now, Major, you just told everyone you would trust me with your life. Surely you don’t think I’m going to drop you before I carry you over the threshold?”

“Good show, Jack,” An undercurrent of respect coloured the humour in Daniel’s tone. From the moment Jack had silently followed him and Sam when they went to tell the Elders of PX-7903 they would fulfil the prophecy, not in return for the naquidah that they had come to the planet for, but in return for letting them help find and correct the cause of the women’s inability to bear female children, their commanding officer had played a triple role with complete dedication. To the crowd, he hammed it up; the small-town earth boy thrilled to be chosen by the beautiful woman from the skies, throwing in little, but authentic, details about marriage on earth with apparent relish.

When the villagers weren’t looking, he was someone entirely different; officer in command of a team member on a mission; always walking half a step behind Sam, holding her hand so that he could gently pull her away from rowdy children or drunken declarations of thanks, admiration and love as the afternoon wore into evening and the pledge ceremony gave way to the marriage feast, scanning the horizon and finding Teal’c at the edge of the crowd, giving a quick nod of acknowledgement. 

But Daniel most admired the role he was playing for the woman in his arms. 

“Major,” he had told her as soon as the elders had agreed to their offer of help, his voice soft and serious, his eyes boring into hers as if everyone else in the room were insubstantial as mist, “I don’t like putting a member of my team in a situation of unknown risk. But if you feel you need to do this, I’m not letting you take a single step alone. And if there’s even a hint of anything off at any stage, I’m pulling us out. Understood?” That last word should have been a command, but Jack had spoken it with the care of a father seeing his daughter off on her first date. Daniel couldn’t help but wonder if Sam’s words about family had affected their colonel more deeply than he would admit.

As the preparations rolled into the pledge rolled into the celebrations, the expression of care had never left his face, and whenever Sam had faltered, he had lifted her with an easy joke and a gentle “Major”, the perfect reminder to her that he knew this was a duty she had chosen to perform for the sake of other people.

“Suits ya, major,” he had said with an appreciative grin when the women had presented her to him in front of the whole community, waist cinched tight in a cornflower blue corset with voluminous, floor length skirt, pale pink dried rose-like flowers and gossamer ribbons trailing in the dusty air behind her head as she walked towards him. The minute he caught the uncertainty in the set of her chin, he had leaned closer and stage-whispered, loud enough for Daniel in the front row to hear: “we’d best not tell them you can still blow up their sun, even in that get-up.”

Sam had closed her eyes for a moment, and when she opened them again, it was with a dazzling smile of gratitude. One that had grown as he reached for her left hand with his right and, squeezing it gently, had said: “All right, then major, are you ready to lay your love on me? Make sure it includes plenty about following and obeying!”

The jokes, the watching over her, the easy comfort he brought her throughout the afternoon, was a more authentic expression of love than the carefully chosen words of the love pledge or the kiss, hammed up for the crowds, would ever be.

And still, as they stood on the threshold of the hut where they would spend the night, finally away from the constant attention of the villagers, he was playing all three roles. Throwing in a bit of earth tradition to delight the tipsy women, eyes scanning the crowd to nod at Teal’c in the back and Daniel in the front, then looking down at the woman he now cradled to his chest.

“So you trust me to get you safely inside then?” his eyes twinkled down at her.

“I guess I have to, at this, point, sir,” she chuckled back, raising her hands helplessly.

“Damn right, you have to, because we’re doing this the Minnesota way!”

With speed honed through years of hand to hand combat, he switched his grip and threw her over his shoulder, deftly stepping forward so that she didn’t hit her head or flailing arms on the doorframe before her upside-down face came to rest against his left butt-cheek.

“Oh my god!” she arched her back to lift her head away from the firm swell, kicking her legs furiously to absolutely no effect because he had her thighs in a vice-grip against his chest. His entire body was shaking with his laughter.

“Not funny, sir,” she tried her best to keep the petulant tone out of her voice. 

“Aah, Carter,” he drawled, and the words vibrated down his spine and through her corset into her chest. She shuddered as an unchecked wave of desire caught fire in her groin. 

“For the first time in the years I’ve known you,” Jack continued, completely oblivious to the wetness flooding her, right next to his face, “you are definitely wrong.”

Sam closed her eyes, bit her lower lip and swallowed hard. All day, she had been on her guard, and all day he had helped to remind her that this was just work. But when it was so close to being over, he had taken her by surprise and she had lost her grip. And now his every movement, his every word, shot bolts of need through her until she ached for him to spread her thighs apart, sink his face into her and taste her as she rocked onto him and released herself into to the mouth of the man she loved.

The muscles in his back shifted under her hard nipples as he turned to face the gathered crowd and raise one arm in a wave. Her breath hitched and she bit down on her lip until she tasted the sting of salty blood.

“Goodnight folks!” she felt Jack’s cheerful voice in every cell of her burning skin, “See you in the morning!”

Then he turned and stepped across the threshold.


	3. The gift

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Tell him the truth, my love. Let him decide what to do with it. Honesty is a form of caring, too.”
> 
> \---oOo---

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter three of "Make it Rain", set a few months after "Divide and Conquer", S4E5.
> 
> My first attempt at fanfic is dedicated to all the wonderful writers of AO3 whose works made me fall in love with Sam and Jack all over again.
> 
> You are unicorns.
> 
> \---oOo---

Sam’s world spun upside down as she bounced helplessly along over Jack's shoulder. With every step he took, she rubbed against him from her thighs to her breasts. And her body was refusing her control. Helpless, racked with shudders of desire, mortified by the certainty that he could feel the rock hard tips of her nipples on his back, could smell the wet heat of her arousal, could sense her trembling in his arms, her eyes spilt burning tears.

As soon as he kicked the door shut behind them, Jack shed his cockiness like a winter coat. Stepping carefully so as not to jolt her, he walked to the petal covered bed and slowly leaned forward, gently placing one arm around her back as he lowered her into a sitting position on the edge of the bed. Pulling back up to standing, he saw the tears before she could turn her burning face away.

“Carter.” His eyes large with concern, he crouched down in front of her rather than standing up.

Even Sam’s face escaped her control. Her lips trembled as violently as her body as she fought to stop her tears becoming sobs. Turning her face as far to the left as she could, she raised her left hand to shield it from him and wrapped her right arm tightly around her corseted waist.

“I, I’m sorry sir,” her voice shook, thick with tears. “I just, just need a minute.” 

“Take all the time you need.” She heard the soft pop of his knees as he straightened up. Then a warm hand rested lightly on her right shoulder, making her flinch. 

“You did a good thing for these people, Carter,” he said softly before walking away.

Breath by shaky breath, Sam fought to regain her composure. It had been so easy all day to focus her attention on the things she was allowed to say and do in this strange, otherworldly theatre of prophecy. It had felt fun, and RIGHT, and the thrill she got when he wiggled his eyebrows at her and planted a loud smack on her lips for the benefit of the gathered crowd was so easy to quash that she did it with a little shake of her head and a smile that he must have thought was a comment on his goofiness. And then he had picked her up and she had just fallen to pieces. She was shaking with her need for him, and sobbing with the terrible realisation that her pledge of love for Jack had torn open her heart and left a wound she didn’t know if she could ever heal.

“Sammy,” The voice in her head was so real that she stilled completely. Her mother’s voice.

“Mom,” her lips formed the silent word.

“There are worse reasons to cry than love. Never be ashamed of caring, my angel.”

Sam squeezed her eyes shut as more tears rolled down her cheeks. She knew the snippet of remembered conversation so well. Her mother had been sitting with her arms around her while her eight year old heart broke over their cat who had been mauled by the neighbour’s dog. As in all her darkest moments, her mom’s words came back to give her comfort and courage.

“I don’t know how I’m going to get through this night without him seeing through me, mommy,” she pleaded in her head. “I’m not strong enough for this.”

“My Sammy.” Through her sobs, Sam swore she could feel her mother’s lips pressing softly to the crown of her head, her arms wrapping her in love. 

“You are stronger than any girl I’ve ever met, and braver than a lion. And your heart is as big as oceans.” That had been her comment the day Sam had come home from school bloodied after taking on a group of older boys who were tormenting the boy who would become her best friend. Sam smiled.

“Tell him the truth, my love. Let him decide what to do with it. Honesty is a form of caring, too.”

Sam wiped her hands across her cheeks, one by one. Her mother had never said that to her while she was alive. 

She felt peace finally descending on her body. From under her eyelashes, she looked for Jack. He was pacing slowly around the room, opening drawers and pulling out their uniforms, their packs, the other things that had been carefully stowed for them by the villagers. Very deliberately, he kept his back turned to her, giving her as much privacy as the open room allowed.

“Tell him the truth, my love. Let him decide what to do with it.” Along with the last of her tears, her mother’s voice faded away. Sam blew out a slow breath, puffing her cheeks. Then she lifted her chin. She could do this.

She stood up and strode over to the filled bathtub, still steaming, that the women had prepared just before leading them here. Petals floated on the water. 

“They used up all their flowers on us, didn’t they?” she broke the silence as she scooped handfuls of water over her puffy eyes and tear-streaked face. When she turned around to look for a towel, she found one held out to her in his outstretched hand. 

“I guess they thought we’d make it rain and then they’d get a whole bunch of fresh ones, so they may as well use up the dry ones.” His tone was light, but his eyes didn’t leave her face. 

As she lowered the towel, she curved her lips up in thanks.

“Okay?” he asked.

Sam nodded slowly. “Tell him the truth,” her mom’s voice echoed in her mind.

“I…” she hesitated, then pushed through with at least some of the truth. “I miss my mom,” she said simply. “Sorry about the crying, sir.”

Jack sank down onto the edge of the bathtub next to her. “Never apologise for caring, Carter.”

The echo of her mother’s words in his made her heart thud in her chest. Catching her bottom lip between her teeth, she turned and walked over to the mirror on the wall and turned her attention to unpicking the mass of dried flowers and ribbons in her hair.

“Ah!” she sucked in a sharp breath as an unseen thorn pricked her finger. “There are thorns on these things!”

With a tiny smile, Jack strolled over to stand behind her. “Here, let me. It’s easier if you can see what you’re dealing with.” His hand grazed hers and Sam almost teared up again with gratitude at the fact that, this time, her body allowed her mind to keep control.

“We should ask Daniel to write a report on why there is such a fondness in religion for people coming out of the sky and wearing thorny things on their heads while they save the planet,” he mused drily as his fingers picked at a knot of ribbon. “That’ll keep him busy for a while.”

“Thank god I didn’t have to die to save them the way the poor guy on earth did,” Sam bounced back the conversation.

“Yeah, you just have to have such good sex that you reverse the effects of a catastrophic solar flare, and then bear them a girl child. I’m not sure, Carter, dying seems like a lot less work to me.”

He kept his eyes carefully trained on her hair as he spoke, but looked up with a grin when she snorted in appreciation. 

“Here,” he loosened one long stemmed flower and handed it to her over her shoulder before starting work on the next section of her hair.

“It feels so good to have my hair back,” she almost groaned. “I always hated having it tied up, even as a child. It’s the only serious fight I remember having with my mom. She wanted me to keep it long and I cut it off myself one day. I thought she’d give in and send me to the hairdresser so I could finally get it cut short, but she forced me to go to school like that for a week.” The comfort was back between her and her C.O. “Thank you, mommy,” she shot silently at the heavens.

Jack chuckled. “You know, I think you channelled her today.”

“Why?” His comment caught her by surprise. A slow burn started roiling in her chest before she clamped it down.

Jack shrugged one shoulder as he worked. “You’re a scientist. You could have tried to convince them of your science, but instead you went along with their prophecy as a way to win them over. You gave them what they wanted so that they would let you help them. Typical mom negotiation.”

“Oh.” Sam breathed.

“Sorry, bit of a tight one, here.” He didn’t seem to have noticed the effect his words had on her as he leaned in closer to unpick a knot just behind her right ear, his breath raising goosebumps on her skin. 

Sam closed her eyes and swallowed.

A rustle of fabric, and his hand nudged hers. Her eyes flew open to see him handing her another flower.

“How did you get so good at this?” she asked as she took it from him and he returned to her hair.

“Older sister,” he answered as his fingers worked, running through the section of hair he had just released to find the next ribboned knot. “If I didn’t braid her hair, she braided mine. Brutal, I tell ya.”

He worked on in silence and Sam allowed his words about her mother to seep into the ache in her heart, settling next to the words her mom had spoken about him in her head. “Tell him the truth, my love. Let him decide what to do with it.”

“Almost done here, Carter. Then you can grab a bath while the water’s warm and get some sleep. We’ll be back home and back to normal before you know it.”

His hands were working the last flower carefully out of her hair. Suddenly, Sam realised the regret she would live with if she didn’t tell him the truth while they had time. He was right. She was channelling her mother.

“Permission to speak freely, sir.”

When his eyes met hers in the mirror and saw the worry they held, pain tugged at his mouth. “Of course, Carter,” he whispered as he handed her the last dried flower and wrapped the ribbon slowly around his fist. The ribbon the colour of her eyes. It tore at him that she had to ask his permission to speak her mind.

“Sir,” she started and swallowed, finding his eyes in the mirror. “I’m not wishing the night away.”

His eyes opened wider. Fighting back control from the burning in her chest, she walked over to a cabinet, placing the flowers down carefully and looking at them while she spoke.

“Sir, the day of the Za’tarc test. We agreed nothing would leave the room.”

Doubt put a clammy hand on the small of her back. What if he didn’t even remember that? She turned to look at her C.O. His chest was rising and falling rapidly. He was frozen to the spot, his eyes wide on hers. He remembered.

“I…” she gave a small, sheepish smile at what she was about to admit, “I still visit that room, sir. I still feel the same.” Her eyes caught the pain that folded around his eyes as he looked at her. As if his next breath depended on her. 

“I’ve gotten pretty good at closing the door firmly behind me as I leave, and tomorrow morning I’ll close this door too. I promise.” She moved her chin up and down in the smallest nod of affirmation as she spoke. “But back home, everything forces us away from that room. And here we’re allowed to be in it for a whole night.” She waved her hands on either side of her in a circle. “We’ve got a whole civilisation wanting us to be in it!” 

Her small laugh did nothing to change the pain in his eyes. Cold fear curled up her spine.

“Sir, I’m not asking for anything from you. Just, just being able to tell you how I feel is more than I thought I’d ever get the chance to do.”

She walked restlessly around him and stopped against one of the enormous wooden pillars of the four poster bed. She looked down at her hands.

“Being able to be honest with you feels like a gift. Tonight feels like a gift.” She tugged restlessly at the skirt pooling around her legs. “Even if I had to wear this ridiculous outfit to get it.”

The sound of him finally moving made her look up. Straight into his eyes, filled with love that burned hotter than the pain and only inches from hers.

Jack cupped her face between his palms as if he was scared she would disappear. “My Sam.” His voice was rough with emotion. “You have never been more beautiful.”


	4. Rain

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Sam.”
> 
> “MMmmmrrrrrrr…..”
> 
> Her head bobbed on his shoulder with his gentle laugh. “I like it when you purr,” his breath tickled her ear.
> 
> “I like it when you make me purr.” Sam turned her head and kissed the tanned skin of his throat.
> 
> \---oOo---

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter 4 of "Make it Rain", set a few months after "Divide and Conquer" (S4E5). 
> 
> I joined AO3 to learn to write love scenes, but, bloody hell, they're hard.
> 
> This love scene, more than any other part of my first attempt at fanfic, is dedicated to the brave, brave authors of AO3 who were willing to put their intimate thoughts into words for others. You not only made me fall in love with Sam and Jack all over again, you also showed me courage.
> 
> You are unicorns.
> 
> \---oOo---

“My Sam.” 

Jack’s lips moved over hers as he whispered her name, barely daring to touch. His weathered palms cupped her face. This couldn’t be real. He would wake up and she would be gone, turning into mist that burnt away in the early morning sun, just as she always did, in every dream.

Sam’s lips pressed into his. The tip of her tongue traced the line between his top and bottom lip, teasing them apart. Slowly, as if she were touching a terrified kitten for the first time, the fingertips of her right hand feathered down his cheek. Her mouth opened wider, pulling him with her, and her tongue stroked along the inside of his teeth. She ran long fingers through the hair on the back of his head and gently pulled him closer. Her lips were moving against his, over and over again.

“Jack,” her voice penetrated the dream-fog in his mind. “Jack.” More urgent now. “Sir!” His eyes snapped open against her skin.

“Breathe! You need to breathe!”

With a shudder, air rushed out of his lungs and he gulped it back in. His chest heaved and burned and then warm arms were around him, pulling him against her, cradling his head in the crook of her neck. 

“In and out, In, And out,” she soothed. “In. And out. Good. That’s good. You’re good.” 

Jack closed his eyes and concentrated on the rhythm of her heartbeat as his own gradually slowed. Emotions he had locked down so tightly fought free and thundered through his chest. She still cared. She was wrapped around him, running her fingers through his hair. She had pressed her lips against his and unravelled him completely. She had given him permission to love her.

“Sam,” he pulled back enough to be able to pour his fear into her in the eyes. Cornflower blue and filled with understanding. 

Her smile reached into the darkest place in his head and burned away the pain, the doubt, until all he felt was certainty.

“I love you, Sam.” 

A heavy weight uncoiled from his heart as he finally spoke the words. He hadn’t felt so light since Charlie died. He traced the line of her jaw and his chest ached with happiness when she flushed deep pink and opened her lips under his thumb. 

This time, when he kissed her, he remembered to breathe.

\---oOo--- 

“I love you, Sam,”

The world dropped away under her feet. And when she found herself again, standing in his arms, it was in a different world. Their world. At last.

Jack’s thumb touched the skin at the corner of her jaw, tracing slowly down towards her chin and rising up to part her lips. And she no longer needed to clamp down the way he made her feel. Sam’s head fell back. She arched herself harder into him and released everything except the feeling of her fingers in his hair, his mouth on her and the way she throbbed with every movement of his tongue.

His lips sealed her mouth to him, hard and sure. His tongue tasted her everywhere as if he knew her already; the line of her teeth, the ridges of her palate, the rough rise of her tongue. With every stroke, her sex responded as if he were inside her. A deep moan tore through her and she rocked her hips onto him.

Jack pulled back at the sound. With wonder in his eyes he pressed his lips to hers for one agonising moment. Then his hands on her shoulders spun her around.

The corset was as hard as rock and the thick blue skirt draped all the way to the floor, but the thin, white blouse that covered her breasts sat loosely on her shoulders, fastened only with a simple bow. Jack’s left hand circled her waist and pulled her back against his chest. Deft fingers pulled the fastening and the thin fabric fell away. His hand cupped her breast, holding her close, stroking her nipple with the skin of his palm, catching its aching hardness in the gap between his fingers as he kneaded the soft flesh. Sam’s breath became a ragged pant. His teeth grazed the bare skin of her shoulder and liquid fire shot through her, her head dropping back against him. Behind her, Jack shifted sideways and pushed one leg between thighs, spreading her open through the layers of her skirt.

“Oh, god, Jack.” Her wetness soaked her. Rough fabric bunched and pulled against her clit. His right hand cupped her pussy, warm and sure even through the layers, fingers spreading her wider, rubbing slowly up and down. “JACK!” As her orgasm shook her, her hands covered his and she crumpled in his arms.

Outside their bungalow, dark clouds scudded across the moon.

\---oOo---

“Sam.”

“MMmmmrrrrrrr…..” 

Her head bobbed on his shoulder with his gentle laugh. “I like it when you purr,” his breath tickled her ear.

“I like it when you make me purr.” Sam turned her head and kissed the tanned skin of his throat.

“Think you can move?”

Sam squeezed her fingers over the hand that cupped her pussy, drawing herself closer to him. “Whyyy?” Of all the planets, in all the galaxies, this was the place in the universe she was destined to be.

“Because the only thing more beautiful than you in this dress…” his palm drew lightly across her nipples, drawing a smug grin when she shuddered, “would be you, naked, riding me.”

Jack gently tipped her forward until her forehead rested against the cool, dark wood of the bed’s pillar. Sam’s hands grasped the smooth carved edges to hold her steady. 

The corset gave way inch by painful inch, his fingers working the ribbons steadily loose from the middle. After the first few minutes, her thoughts faded into the rhythm of the pulling and releasing; of his hands safely on her, doing whatever he wanted them to do. The stiff bodice released with a sigh and steady hands pushed it over her hips to let it sink to the floor. Jack kissed the gentle rise of bone where her spine curved into her neck. He ran his hands up the sides of her bare thighs, lifting up the thin white blouse, pressing his body against every inch of skin as he bared it.

Sam sighed and raised her arms, falling back against him as he lifted the blouse over her head and dropped it. He wrapped her naked body in his arms, tracing her hips, her ribs, the soft dip of her belly. She stood silent, letting his hands chart every secret part of her. She had never felt such peace.

For the second time, he placed his hands gently on her shoulders and turned her around. Her slow smile spoke of heat, and love, and more happiness than he had ever seen. She framed his head with her arms and pressed the length her body against him. Her left foot hooked around the outside of his calf to pull herself even closer. Her hips moved languorously against the rough fabric covering his straining erection as she kissed, and licked, and teased his mouth.

“Fuck, Sam, I need to be inside you,” he groaned.

Without slowing the torturing dance against his cock, she leaned her upper body back, tugged his thin shirt out of his trousers and slipped her hands along his stomach and chest, echoing the path of his hands under her blouse. Running her fingers up his raised arms, she lifted the fabric over his head and gave another purr of appreciation as she leaned back to take in his naked chest, a saucy smile under her hooded eyes.

Jack’s self-control burst. He pushed himself away from her and yanked at the fastenings of his trousers, stepping out of them and up against her in mere seconds, pinning her back against the wooden pillar as he crushed his lips to her mouth. Her body connected with a force that pushed a rush of breath out of her.

“Shit.” Jack pulled back in alarm, but her slow, sexy smile didn’t waver. Looking straight into his eyes, she reached for his cock and guided him to her until his tip touched the wet warmth of her sex. With a single thrust, Jack was deep inside her. Sam’s mouth fell open with the intensity of sensation, but her eyes held his, refusing to close as he pulled back and thrust in again, and again, and again.

“I love you.” They were the first words she had spoken in minutes. She dropped her head forward on his shoulder, wrapped her arms and legs around him and surrendered her body to him as he exploded inside her and she clenched around him with a cry.

A loud clap of thunder made him jump. Then the sound of a downpour split the sky.

For a moment, all Jack could do was breathe as he held her body up against the pillar. The sweet ache of his orgasm still pulsed and she clenched against him with the force of her own. Eventually, he found his voice.

“Sam? Is it raining?” 

Sam snuggled her head into the crook of his shoulder and nodded.

“You knew this was going to happen?”

He could feel her slowly shaking her head from side to side.

“Wait.” Tension crept into his voice. “Then what’s going on?”

Sam lifted one hand and stroked his cheek, calming his discomfort. She lifted her eyes to him, untroubled and wide. 

“We made it rain,” she said simply.

“Clearly, Carter.” He rolled his eyes.

A shy grin dimpled her face.

“I take it you have a theory as to how we did that?”

Her blue eyes nodded seriously.

“Well?” Jack lifted his hands in mock exasperation, then quickly wrapped them around her again. Not even science would get him to let go of her tonight.

The fingers of Sam’s other hand ran up his neck and into his hair, pulling his mouth down towards her. 

“Magic, my love,” she whispered before she kissed him.


	5. Aftermath

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The general sighed. “You know that’s not the problem here. The problem is explaining a marriage ceremony between two ranked officers, while on duty.” With the true reason for his discomfort in the open, his eyes softened. He looked from Sam to Jack with regret. “I have been ordered to get psych evaluations carried out on both of you in order to assess your fitness for duty.”
> 
> \---oOo---

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter 5 of "Make it Rain", set a few months after "Divide and Conquer", S4E5
> 
> Thank you SO much to everyone who has read and been supportive of my first fanfic and for your writing, which inspired me to try.
> 
> You are unicorns.
> 
> \---oOo---

“I take it all back,”  
Sam looked up from tying her shoelace, a question in her eyes. She fought the cold flutter of fear in her gut. Did he regret what they had done already?

Her C.O., dressed and ready, stood in front of the door that separated their night from reality. As she straightened up from her crouch, his gaze travelled openly from her face to her legs and back again, lingering on her thighs.

“I didn’t think it was possible,” he drawled, “ but you’re even more beautiful in uniform.”

Sam hid her happy blush behind a saucy grin and sauntered over to him. She tucked her hands into the back pockets of his BDUs and pulled his hips forward into hers.

“Well, then, sir, I’m definitely at an advantage.”

“You usually are, Carter,” he chuckled drily. “But why this time?”

“Because I think you look best naked. And no-one else gets to see you that way.”

Jack’s chest rumbled with laughter and she pressed her chest into him, savouring the closeness. 

“Sam.” He said her name like a prayer. His kiss held the tender sadness of a lifelong goodbye.

When footsteps scuffled through the rain outside, he turned away with a sigh. He looked at his hand on the doorknob.

“Ready, major?” 

“Ready, sir,” she answered softly.

\---oOo---

“Welcome home, SG1. I’m glad you made it safely. Dry off. We debrief in ten.” The discomfort was carefully controlled, but everyone in SG1 recognised it in the hard set of General Hammond’s eyes. “Doctor Fraser, I’d appreciate it if you’d join us.”

“Yes, sir,” Janet glanced at Sam as she nodded. She was relieved to see peace in her friend’s eyes. “I’ll just get the blood samples from the women on ice.”

“And we’re gonna need some help getting this half a ton of naquidah that Carter procured for us to her lab.” Jack patted the pile of ore on the MALP’s trailer with obvious pride and, Janet thought, just a hint of a warning to the General. Sam ducked her head quickly to hide a small smile and walked briskly in the direction of the women’s locker room to change into dry clothes.

From her position near the door, Janet sighed as she watched the colonel. He protected Sam with his eyes, shoulders forward, arms tense, until her footsteps on the concrete faded. She suspected general Hammond’s reasons for wanting her in the debrief had nothing to do with the vials of blood in her hands. He wanted her psychological opinion. And she suspected he would need it.

General Hammond stalked into the briefing room and sat down under a cloud. “I’ll get straight to the point, colonel,” he turned to face Jack, “we are the air force, not gods. We do not get involved in off-world religious ceremonies.”

From her seat at the opposite end of the table, Janet saw the three men of SG1 lean forward in complete unison. Daniel’s voice cut in first.

“With respect, general, we get involved all the time. We altered the course of history on Abydos before SG1 was even created. We started the Jaffa uprising that is founded on the principle of overthrowing a religion of oppression!” 

Teal’c nodded at Daniel, who had stretched his hand towards him as he spoke. “Indeed.” He tipped his body forward slightly more to look straight at the general. “In addition, it is my impression that the actions of major Carter and colonel O’Neill did not in fact alter the religion of PX-9703 at all. They merely followed local custom in order to negotiate a mutually beneficial settlement. Their actions do not strike me as more unusual than the tradition of consuming fermented beverages and engaging in the sport of golf before concluding business deals.” After pinning the general for a long moment, he leaned back in his chair, shifting his gaze to Sam. “And their actions led to a very favourable mission outcome, did it not?”

“Five times more naquidah than we asked for, and the chance to save a civilisation,” Jack crossed his arms emphatically on the table. “Not to mention that Carter somehow broke an eighteen-year long drought!”

The general sighed. “You know that’s not the problem here. The problem is explaining a marriage ceremony between two ranked officers, while on duty.” With the true reason for his discomfort in the open, his eyes softened. He looked from Sam to Jack with regret. “I have been ordered to get psych evaluations carried out on both of you in order to assess your fitness for duty.”

“WHAT! No! She was following my orders!” Jack was out of his seat, the arm pointing at Sam shaking with outrage. “Evaluate me if you have to, but I’m not letting her be called into question for this!”

“Jack, we have no choice in that,” the general sighed.

“I don’t mind, sir.” Sam swivelled in her chair and Jack stilled as he looked at her. “I stand by everything I did.”

“PEACE.” Janet spelled the word out on her briefing pad, a small frown creasing her forehead. She knew Sam was strong, and able to remain calm under the most harrowing conditions. But her face had always held the smallest trace of loneliness and pain. She had seen Sam calm, but not at peace like this. Even now. She knew that both the major and her C.O. knew the likely outcome of a psych investigation into their fitness to work would be removal from SG1. Their jobs were at risk, yet peace rolled off her in waves. “Repeat Fertility Tests.” She added the words to her pad.

“Wait,” Daniel’s voice was quiet, but he was also out of his seat. “Evaluate me too, in that case.” 

The doctor and the general turned questioning expressions on him.

“I think what Sam did was exactly in line with what the airforce expects of us. She put herself in a difficult situation to ensure the success of a mission and to save lives. She used words and wore a dress rather than using force and wearing combat uniform, but why does that matter?”

Daniel was pacing, waving his arms and didn’t see Sam’s caring look, but Janet leaned back in her chair and looked from Sam to the men on her team. All of them protecting her.

“Besides, I’ve got exact transcripts of her love pledge.” Daniel continued. “It was just a rewording of the oath of allegiance that you all took when you joined up. And she happened to say them to Jack in the ceremony, but she said we’re all family, that she would say them to any of us. And I would say them to her. So, test me too.” He moved around the table and sat down next to Sam.

“I concur with Daniel Jackson. I consider major Carter and colonel O’Neill like family. If speaking these words aloud call their ability to perform their duties into question, then I should be evaluated too.”

“Atta boy, Teal’c.” Slowly, Jack eased himself back into his chair, careful not to look at his second in command. “Now, general, can we get to the part where my major broke a drought and saved a planet?”

“Actually, sir, I don’t think that was me.” Sam’s smile was wider than her quiet tone usually allowed.

“What’s your theory, major?” Hammond also seemed relieved to have moved on.

“Well, I’d like to run some more tests, sir, but we know that activating a wormhole releases ionic radiation. If the level of background radiation on the planet was low, for example, or of an, mm, unstable nature, the mere fact of our arrival could have been the event that broke the drought.”

Janet glanced around the table. The whole team seemed changed somehow; closer. More like family. At Sam’s words, they all looked proud. But the change in the major was the most noticeable. Her explanations usually fizzled to a slightly embarrassed silence and a serious examination of her crossed arms on the table. But today her smile grew until it lit up her eyes. She winked at Daniel before turning to face her commanding officer.

“Unless it was the correction of the cosmic wrong that was my lack of knowledge of the behaviour of Minnesotan fish, sir.”

“Carter,” the last of Jack’s tension melted away as he frowned at her. “Are you mocking me?”

“Not for a moment, sir. Every word you told me last night was life-changing.” Daniel’s guffaw gave her smile permission to break into a grin. “Haven’t slept that well in years, sir.”

With a shake of his head, Hammond pushed his chair back. “All right, people. I think we’re done here. Daniel, Teal’c, I will support your requests to be evaluated as a unit. It may well improve the chance of the team staying together. I appreciate your loyalty.” He stood up. “And your good work. Major Carter, may I see you in my office for a minute? The rest of you should go to the infirmary with Dr Fraser immediately. Let’s get these evaluations out of the way.”

 

“Sam,” the general said as soon as she closed his office door. His smile was warm. “I have no control over the need for the evaluation, but I will do everything in my power to keep you together as a team.”

“Thank you, sir.”

“Your mother was a good friend to me.”

“Sir?” Sam swallowed. This was completely unexpected.

“The air force is not always a very loving place. What you did was risky, but I can see how much it meant to your team. It’s the kind of thing your mother would have done. She would be proud.”

He didn’t have to wait for her to look up to know she was hiding tears. Squeezing her shoulder gently, he walked towards the door. “I’m going to get some lunch in the canteen. Take your time and head to the infirmary when you’re ready,” he said gently before closing the door on her.

\---oOo---

“Sam? Have you got a minute?” Daniel’s head filled the gap in her lab door.

Sam smiled broadly. “Of course! What’s up?”

A small pot of pale pink, dwarf roses appeared under his face before both entered the room, followed by his body. “I wanted to say thanks.”

“For what?”

Daniel shrugged one shoulder and pushed his glasses unnecessarily up the bridge of his nose. “For being family. For saving the people on PX-9703.” He hesitated. “For being you.”

Sam took the pot, placed it right next to her keyboard in a pool of light, and wrapped him in a hug.

\---oOo---

“Major Carter?” Teal’c’s polite request followed his knock on her lab door.

“Come in, Teal’c!” she called as she looked up from her report and rolled her shoulders.

“What’s up?” Sam hopped lightly off her chair as he pushed into the room, holding a cardboard box in both hands.

“I have been informed that family on earth often provide each other with food as a token of gratitude,” he started formally.

“Yes, the path to our hearts is through our stomachs,” she commented with a smile, quickly adding “figuratively” when she saw his confused look.

“Ah. Amusing.” The Jaffa inclined his head seriously, making her giggle.

“Major Carter, I wished to thank you for your words about family. It is an honour to be as a brother to you.” He held out the box.

Sam took it, peered inside and shook with laughter. Teal’c had managed to get the SGC cook to sell him two kilograms of blue jello powder.

\---oOo---

“Carter, you still working?”

With a flush of happiness, Sam looked up at his voice behind her. 

“Sir, the naquidah from PX-7903 is even purer than I thought.” She couldn’t hide her excitement. “They gave us a massive gift.”

“No less than you deserved, Carter.” His eyes on her were warm. “I would have called you my favourite family member, but after that comment about the fish, I’m not sure I want to anymore.”

Sam’s grin set off a sweet burn in his belly, but he smiled through it.

Pivoting to face him, she put her hands on her hips. “But it was the truth, sir!” Her smile softened. Every word you told me last night was life-changing.” 

“Smartass.” He folded his arms across his chest, hugging the happiness her words brought him to his chest. “If you’re not careful, I’ll drag you along next time I go fishing and force you to see how exciting it can be!”

In the darkness of the silent mountain, blue eyes poured love into his.

“I’d like that, sir. I’d like that very much.”


	6. My Name is Jack

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It happens when you least expect it.  
> The realisation that you’ve been lying to yourself.  
> The knowledge that you don’t have it in you to lie any more.
> 
> (SamanthaHelenMagnusCarter, you asked for consequences!)
> 
> \---oOo---

It happens when you least expect it.  
The realisation that you’ve been lying to yourself.  
The knowledge that you don’t have it in you to lie any more.

It was a routine recon mission. A boring mission, exactly like so many others. Sam had picked up a stomach bug which had slowed their progress during the day and Jack had ordered them to set up camp well before sundown; something Daniel hid his disappointment at when he saw Sam refusing her dinner. They would have to wait until morning to reach the site of the ancient temple, but it was clear she wasn’t herself if she didn’t want to eat.

The three men sat around the campfire, making desultory conversation, when Jack’s radio crackled to life.

“Jack,” Sam’s voice came over the receiver, loud enough for the others to raise questioning eyes to him in the glow of the flames. In five years, she had never broken protocol within their earshot.

Jack shifted uncomfortably on the hard ground. She had called him that on only one occasion. One incredible occasion. He had no idea what she had eaten, but he hoped to hell it wasn’t affecting her mind and she remembered they were not alone.

He thumbed the button on his radio. “Ex-cuse me, major?” His voice held warning.

“Jack. Please.” The second word was a strangled sob.

Jack’s cup rolled in the dust as he sprinted towards her tent.

The tent was dark and empty, but he caught a flashlight through the trees ahead.

“Carter?” he whispered as he approached. Her reflexes were lethal. Even if she had called for him, he would never approach her from behind without warning.

His second in command was on her haunches, lower back supported against the trunk of a tree. In the light of her head torch, a dark pool glistened in the dust between her legs. Her trousers were bunched around her ankles, black with blood.

She was trembling uncontrollably. Her face, when she turned to look at him, was a tear-stained mask of pain. With a grunt, she doubled over.

“Pack up,” Jack barked into his radio. “Take only what we need. Radio ahead for Fraser. Carter needs medical attention.”

\---oOo---

“Put her on the gurney, colonel. How was she injured?”

“She wasn’t.” Jack’s voice was bow-string tight as he relinquished the woman he held cradled in his arms. She groaned as he stepped away and he quickly placed a hand on her shoulder to let her know he was still there.

“Sam? What happened?” Janet leaned over her, pushing back the hair that was plastered to her forehead , then running her hand down Sam’s arm to feel her pulse.

Jack couldn’t believe that the orderlies pushing the gurney were running. They seemed to move through treacle, their feet slapping the beat of a funeral dirge down the echoing hallways.

He floated beside his body as he watched them enter the infirmary and lift her onto a bed. Janet looked pointedly at him before beginning to remove Sam’s boots and clothes. Pulling his face into an even tighter scowl of worry, Jack folded his arms and held his position, but closed his eyes while they undressed her. He heard the doctor sigh before she turned back to her work.

“Sam,” he heard Janet murmur again as the beep of monitors started charting Sam’s heartbeat, the thready rhythm an echo of his own, “when did you start bleeding?”

“This evening.” Her voice was hoarse. “I had cramps this afternoon, and…” her reply turned into another grunt of pain.

Jack’s eyes shot open and looked straight into the diminutive doctor’s upturned face.

“Time for you to leave, sir.” In the infirmary, she outranked him. And that was a command. With a twitch of his clenched jaw, Jack turned to go.

“No!” It was impossible to tell if Sam gasped the word from pain or because she was desperate for him to stay. Jack didn’t care. He circled Janet and grabbed Sam’s clenched fist in both his hands, blanching as dark blood oozed out of it and over his fingers.

“I’m here as long as you need, Carter.” He wished to god she didn’t hear the horror in his voice as he stared at his bloody hands.

Janet’s face was set in disapproval as she walked back to the bed and placed a sheet over Sam’s naked body before gently lifting the major’s feet into gynaecological stirrups. At the movement, the smell of blood doubled in intensity. Sam winced.

“We’ve got you, Carter. You’re safe now. You’re safe.” He wiped his left hand on his BDUs and cupped her head. His handprint left a red streak in her blonde hair.

“Sam,” Janet rounded the bed to stand across from him. She took Sam’s left hand in her own. A dissociated corner of Jack’s mind recognised the small gestures of care, the repeated use of the patient’s name. Whatever was happening, Janet feared for Sam’s life.

“You have very heavy vaginal bleeding.” Janet searched for the words to say next, her discomfort at having Jack in the room palpable.

“Janet, are these,” Sam opened the bloody fist in Jack’s right hand to reveal muddy, grey, glistening twigs in a handful of congealed blood. She must have picked them out of the pool in the dust before he gathered her to him and ran for the gate. 

Her face crumpled, “are these my baby’s bones?”

Invisible iron bars clamped tight around Jack’s throat.

“Oh, Sam.” Her heard Janet say, a universe away. “Is this why you didn’t want me to retest your fertility after you visited PX-7903? Were you pregnant then?”

Through the mist in his eyes, Jack saw her shake her head. Her hand in his was trembling. He rubbed his thumb helplessly over her knuckles.

“You’ve miscarried, Sam. But you’re losing a lot more blood than you should.”

Sam nodded slowly and then squeezed her eyes shut. He ached to kiss her eyelids, to hold her close again. To stop time.

“I’d like to call the father.” Had he not known the need to follow protocol, Jack would have thought the doctor was speaking purely out of compassion.

Sam turned her head from left to right on the pillow.

“Sam,” Janet had to be her doctor before she could be her friend.

“He doesn’t know,” Sam whispered. “It was a one night stand.”

The words drove shards of glass into his chest. But not of jealousy. Jack knew, without knowing how, that she was lying to protect him. Even bleeding to death, she was protecting him. And, like the thunderclap that follows lightning, he knew he was done lying.

“Can we call your family then?” Janet persisted.

“I have my family, here.”

Jack couldn’t breathe. 

He folded forward until his forehead rested against hers.

“I’m here, Sam,” he whispered. “I’ll be waiting.”

\---oOo---

“Illness happens, colonel. It cannot be avoided.” Hammond paced around the table towards him.

“She wasn’t ill, she was pregnant.”

“A fact she didn’t disclose.”

Jack’s eyes bored a challenge into the general’s face.

His base commander sighed. “Janet says the hysterectomy controlled the bleeding completely. There’s no additional damage and she’ll be able to resume active duty within a matter of weeks. Her life isn’t over.”

Jack stared down the lie until the general broke eye contact.

“Permission to take leave until she returns, sir.” He swallowed past the ball in his throat.

Hammond’s eyebrows shot up. “Your reason, colonel?” His voice was wary.

“She’s going to need help at home while she recovers.” Jack was back in his primary school principle’s office, justifying his actions on the playground.

“I’m not sure her home is the appropriate place for her commanding officer.” His voice was gentler than Jack had ever heard. It made his next sentence that much harder.

“If you don’t think so, sir, then you’d better get used to calling me Jack again. It’s been an honour serving with you. But this isn’t a choice I’m letting the air force make for me.”

\---oOo---

Sam’s eyes were filled with sand and weighted down with lead. She winced as the infirmary light hit them. 

Her hand rested on something soft and warm. Familiar. With painstaking effort, she swivelled her eyes towards it. It was his hair. His sleeping head was resting on her bed, nestled into the palm of her hand. She smiled and drifted off again.

Her head felt clearer when she woke again, brought back to the room by voices. Quiet, restrained; but angry.

“It will be hours before she’s conscious, colonel. And you should not be here.”

“My name is Jack, Janet. And I’m not leaving until it’s with her.”

She remembered his warm arms around her, lifting her feet off the floor. A lifetime ago. On another planet. She imagined him carrying her out of this bright, painful place again, cradled against his chest. When sleep took her, she was smiling.

\---oOo---

Sam surfaced from her dream and blinked in the infirmary light. She stretched her toes. She stretched her fingers, and looked down in surprise at a rumpled face against her right hand. The face opened its eyes. A warm smile stretched unshaven cheeks under tired eyes.

“Good morning, my Sam.” His stubble tickled her palm as he moved to press his lips into her hand.

She blinked. Hard. She had woken in an alternate reality. He was wearing jeans and kissing her. But her belly hurt. Suddenly, memories flooded back. She opened her mouth but no words would come out.

Heels clipped on the concrete floor. 

“Welcome back, Sam.” Janet’s hand circled her left wrist, feeling her pulse. “How are you feeling?”

“I’d rather be fishing?” It was a weak joke, one they’d chuckled at when Sam’s run-ins with the enemy had landed her here for extended, boring, painful stays before. Neither woman could find a single reason anyone would claim to enjoy fishing. 

This time, however, her friend’s didn’t laugh. Her mouth pulled into a sad line and she glanced across the bed at the colonel.

“When can she come home, Janet?” Jack’s voice carried urgency.

“We have to see how she does over the next few hours, colo-,” she bit off the honorific with a sigh.

“What happened?” Sam frowned her confusion from one to the other.

“You miscarried, Sam.” Janet spoke gently. “The lining of your uterus was damaged and you lost a lot of blood. We had to remove it to stop the bleeding.”

“I could have children after all?”

“We don’t know that for certain, Sam.”

Sam closed her eyes on the careful non-affirmation. It told her everything she needed to know. The prophecy had changed her life. After resigning herself to her infertility diagnosis, she had conceived on a magical night with the man she could only ever love from afar. Had she known that she was having his child, she would have walked out of the SGC and never looked back. 

On the day she had found hope, she had lost it forever.

Tears sprang to her eyes and she turned her head into the pillow.

Once again, warm lips pressed into the cupped palm of her hand. The feeling of being trapped in an alternate reality returned. Why was he here, now when he knew she had irrevocably lost the ability to be more to him than a colleague?

Not for the first time, the doctor seemed to read her mind. With a small squeeze on her left wrist, careful to avoid the intravenous fluid tubes, she smiled at Sam.

“I’m truly sorry that we couldn’t save your child, Sam. But you may find you’ve gained something from all this.” She looked at the man on the other side of the bed again. “I’m going to leave you to talk. Don’t tire her out, Jack.” This time, the hesitation before she said his name was shorter.

Her heels clipped away and fingers weaved softly through her hair. Jack finally did what he had been aching to do since he laid her on the gurney in the gate room. His lips traced the tracks of her tears on her cheeks, kissing each one into nothingness.

The pain it stirred in Sam was worse than the burning in her belly. She had survived one goodbye kiss. She didn’t have the strength to survive another.

“Sir,” Her bones felt like water as she raised her arm to push him away.

He caught her hand and brought it to the centre of his chest. “No need to call me that anymore, Carter.” His smile held shy happiness and the promise of forever. “I’m not wasting another day that I could spend kissing you.

“My name is Jack. And as soon as you feel up to it, we’re going home.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The final chapter of "Make it Rain", set a few months after "Divide and Conquer", S4E5.
> 
> I joined AO3 to find a forum on which to develop my writing voice, particularly for conflict, emotion and romance.
> 
> I found the world's best writers' circle. 
> 
> Thank you to EVERYONE who read, left Kudos or comments to guide or support me in my first ever fanfic. I came here because your writing inspired me, and I'll be back with more works because YOU inspire me.
> 
> You are unicorns!


End file.
